India is fighting to secure exploration rights to a cobalt-rich underwater mountain in the middle of the Indian Ocean, but its bid has come up against competing claims at a time when Sri Lanka is also seeking to explore precious minerals in the region.
The urgency behind India’s request comes from fears about China’s presence in the Indian Ocean at a time when the world’s second-largest economy already dominates the global cobalt supply chain, Indian officials and analysts told Al Jazeera.
Cobalt is a critical mineral widely used in electric vehicles and batteries and is seen as a vital element in the transition to green energy.
In January, India had approached the Jamaica-based International Seabed Authority seeking approval to explore the cobalt-rich Afanasy Nikitin seamount, which lies in the central Indian Ocean, east of the Maldives and about 1,350 km (850 miles) offshore Indian. Formed in 1994, ISA is an autonomous international organization mandated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to regulate economic activity under the sea.
India too paid out a fee of US$500,000 for the ISA to consider its application, in which it explained its desire to carry out extensive geophysical, geological, biological, oceanographic and environmental studies in the proposed area over 15 years. The seamount consists of 150 blocks spread over 3,000 square kilometers (1,158 square miles).
But in evaluating India’s request, the ISA discovered that the Afanasy Nikitin Seamount lies entirely within an area also claimed by another country to be within the limits of its continental shelf, according to a note shared by the organization with Al Jazeera. Although the ISA did not name this other country in its response to India, experts believe that Sri Lanka is the nation the seabed authority was referring to. A country’s continental shelf is the limit of its land mass below the ocean.
According to a note shared by ISA with Al Jazeera, the seabed authority has sought a response from India to its conclusion on competing territorial claims. But on March 12, India said it would not be able to respond in time for the ISA to consider its comments during the 29th Session of the ISA’s Legal and Technical Committee, which is considering the request.
As a result, the ISA note states that India’s request has been “put on hold”. The ISA is expected to review the request again once India responds.
Sri Lanka’s claim
Typically, a country’s continental shelf extends up to 200 nautical miles (370 km) from its coast, demarcating an exclusive economic zone that only that nation can exploit for economic purposes, although ships from other countries can pass through unimpeded.
But coastal nations can appeal to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), arguing that the outer limits of their continental shelves extend beyond 200 nautical miles.
This is what Sri Lanka he did in 2009, requesting the extension of the limits of its continental shelf from 200 nautical miles to a much larger area. The CLCS has not yet ruled on Sri Lanka’s claim, but if accepted, the Afanasy Nikitin Seamount would fall within Sri Lanka’s nautical boundaries.
The CLCS, which is tasked with examining nations’ claims to widening continental shelf borders, has in the past accepted such requests: Pakistan, Australia and Norway have rights to maritime territories extending beyond 200 nautical miles. your back, for example.
In 2010, India he responded to Sri Lanka’s presentation before the CLCS, without contesting the claims of its smaller neighbor. But in 2022, changed its position to argue that Sri Lanka’s claims would harm India’s interests. India requested the commission not to “consider and qualify” the submission made by Sri Lanka.
Al Jazeera requested comment from the Indian and Sri Lankan governments on their competing claims, but did not receive any response.
Chinese presence
But it’s not Sri Lanka that New Delhi is most worried about, analysts say.
A senior maritime law expert said India’s action appears to be motivated more by a desire to establish a foothold in the area to deter any Chinese presence than by any immediate exploration objectives.
“India’s claim is not aimed at starting exploration immediately, but at establishing its presence and participation before China enters the picture,” said the maritime expert, who is now a senior official in the Indian judiciary, and requested anonymity due to his position. .
According to the ISA, China, Germany and South Korea currently have contracts for deep-sea exploration in different parts of the Indian Ocean.
Nikhilesh Nedumgattunmal, assistant professor of maritime law at Dr. Ambedkar Law University in Chennai, India, said the location of the Afanasy Nikitin Seamount – far outside any country’s exclusive economic zones – strengthened India’s case before the ISA. “India has the right to request exploration permission from the ISA,” he told Al Jazeera.
what is at stake?
KV Thomas, a retired scientist from the National Center for Earth Science Studies in Thiruvananthapuram, India, echoed the senior judicial official’s assessment that China is a key factor behind India’s decision.
Thomas said India’s deep-sea mining initiatives are at an early stage. However, in recent years, the country has demonstrated its ambition.
In 2021, it launched a Deep Ocean mission to explore deep sea resources, with an allocation of 500 million dollars over a period of five years.
In 2023, the Indian government said that, under the Deep Ocean mission, it was developing a manned submersible for deep-sea mining, which would carry out “exploratory mining of deep-sea polymetallic nodules”. Polymetallic nodules, also called manganese nodules, are rock concretions that serve as vital sources of critical minerals, including cobalt.
Right now, China controls 70% of the world’s cobalt and 60% of lithium and manganese – other critical minerals – according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. But India, which has set a 2070 deadline to achieve net-zero emissions, needs access to these minerals to power its clean energy economy.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
